Shadowed Mind
by Emlin
Summary: There's bad things afoot, will Emma resolve her conflict with Logan? Not quite yet, if Magneto has anything to say about it. **FIFTEEN!**
1. Legal schmeg, and an intro from moi

Disclaimer: Gee, does anyone even read these anymore? X-men (Logan included) = not mine. Emma = mine. Any questions?  
  
No, I do not know the formula for cold fusion. *mutters* Smart are...  
  
A/N: So, following my trend, this is set in series three. This may be a stupid decision on my part, because, well, I haven't seen series 3. Any of series three.... Damn Australian television being so behind. And there's not really any way I could work it out without the Acolytes... Such is life. So, I'm going to label this AU, and pray for the best. There's also slight Gambit/Rogue later on, because, come on with that bit in DOR? It's gotta happen =]  
  
these are telepathy //these// are thoughts *these* are word emphasis And lastly, **these** are a flashback or similar type of thing.  
  
And yes, this is part of a series. Part three actually, and although the stories should be somewhat coherent on their own, you'll understand things a lot better if you've read the others. I'm not going to explain what's happened before because it's annoying for both me and the people who have read the others. 


	2. In which we get the ball rolling

It's something that never happens to you. It's always a friend of a friend, a colleague, someone on the news. Emma felt alien in the big house, finally empty of people. Eerily quiet.  
  
Emma sat down, making an effort to be quiet. The silence was sharp. She jumped as the doorbell rang. //It figures. Man, I just really wanna sit down and get my thoughts together, not put up with more well-wishers...//  
  
She wearily opened the door, feeling uncomfortable in the mid-calf long black skirt and blouse.  
  
"Good afternoon Emma." Charles smiled up at her, as did Jean who was with him.  
  
"Uncle! Wha... uh... Come in." She held the door open for them both, mentally thanking her father for refusing to put steps at the front door. She hadn't spoken to Charles since before she left to find Adam. She hadn't spoken to any of them. It wasn't out of callousness on her part, but due to the fact that she had simply been too busy.  
  
"This is a lovely house," Jean remarked politely.  
  
"Oh, thank you. Would you like a drink, either of you?"  
  
Her uncle asked for tea and Jean for water. Emma thought that a teenager - even if it was Jean - asking for water was a little odd. She fussed around the kitchen, trying not to remember all the times she'd seen her mother do it. Her mother. Her father. It was an almost unconscious switch in her thinking. She'd always thought of them as her *foster* parents, as if somehow they were different to *real* parents. But really, were her biological parents better? Certainly not.  
  
Her father was an insane mutant, kept in stasis in a prison. And her mother... was no where to be found. True, Charles was wonderful, everything she could have wanted in family, but that didn't negate the efforts of those who'd raised her. They'd done the hard work, and despite their fear of her and religious zealotism, she'd turned out fairly normal. //Or as normal as you can be when you shoot electricity from your hands...//  
  
You never realise the value of people until they're gone.  
  
Emma took the drinks out, along with a very strong black coffee for herself. Both Jean and the professor looked tense and a little uncomfortable. Emma sat down on an overstuffed armchair, remembering how her father had sat there.  
  
She smiled. "I don't suppose you came for any reason, did you Charles?" She didn't need his powers to see that this was not just a social visit.  
  
"What makes you say that, Emma?"  
  
She sipped her coffee. "Well, it is a three day drive from Bayville..."  
  
"But only an hour in the Blackbird." Jean chimed in, holding her untouched water.  
  
"Still, I don't imagine you would come all this way if you could pick up a phone and chat."  
  
Her uncle sighed, sensing her multi-leveled pain. "Many things have happened since you left."  
  
"Yes, I have been watching the news. Gave me quite a nasty shock, actually. All that business with the dueling in the streets and the large metal robot. Although I can't say it didn't give me a warm glow to see my father on the news..."  
  
"We don't know what Magneto's plotting, but we do know that we need to gather our strength, which means-"  
  
"That you want me to come back to Bayville. I can't." She put her cup down on a coaster. "At least, not yet. I have to deal with the estate, sell the house..." //And somehow bring myself to face Logan again.//  
  
"The estate?" Jean was not as quick on the uptake as Xavier was.  
  
"My parents died, Jean. Earlier this week, in a strangely very normal car accident." Emma's voice was deceptively even.  
  
"Oh, I'm so sorry."  
  
The elder female nodded. "Thank you. So I do apologise Charles, but I can't go back to being a super hero just yet. I have a little bit of normality to deal with."  
  
"Ah." He put his cup down. "Well, when you are free to do so, we will welcome you back."  
  
Emma led them to the door. "We'll see, Uncle..." Her scars still hadn't faded from her last adventure in Bayville.  
  
"Oh, I thought you might like to know that Logan is all right."  
  
"Ah. That's nice. Goodbye then." She closed the door. 


	3. In which the chapter is really short, bu...

She sold the house for far less than it was worth, along with the majority of the furnishings. Most of the rest she gave away to charities. Emma had no idea of what to do with all the money she now had. Her parents hadn't been rich like Charles, but neither were they poor.  
  
Still, the normalcy of their deaths stunned her. How was it possible, in her life of people who could teleport, move through solid objects, control the elements, or metals, or throw bone spikes, that two people could die in a car wreck?  
  
She decided to keep the money. She didn't know where she was going, and she had nowhere to stay. Her old duffelbag was slung into the back seat of her black car and she sat there for a moment, hands on the wheel. She wasn't going to Bayville. Not just yet. Emma started the car and drove out of the driveway of her childhood home for the last time.  
  
She drove aimlessly, taking any turn that struck her fancy. It didn't take long for day to turn into night, and for her eyelids to start drooping. Emma pulled over. //There's no town within a hundred miles of here. I'll just take a short nap, and then I'll keep going until I find a place to sleep for the night.//  
  
It seemed to her that no sooner had she leaned her seat back and locked her doors than she was opening her eyes, wakened by bright sunlight.  
  
"Oh man..." She pulled the car seat upright. And opened the door, climbing out. It was just after dawn. Emma was somewhat surprised that she was alive and un-violated. Sleeping in a parked car just screamed "attack me" even if it was locked.  
  
Having adequately stretched her cramped form, Emma got back in her car and turned the key.  
  
Nothing.  
  
She frowned and tried again. Still nothing. She looked down at the display and noticed that her lights were on.  
  
"Oh, you idiot!" She cursed a few times before getting out to look at the engine. She opened the hood. Yes, she confirmed her suspicions, there was most certainly an engine there. Unfortunately, that was about how far her car expertise went. She surmised that her battery was flat, but she had no clue how to check.  
  
But, she *was* an organic generator of electricity...  
  
Emma looked around. The road was virtually in the middle of nowhere. No houses, no cars, not even very many trees. She leaned in close to the engine and let the power build in her fingers.  
  
Then she was aware of a strange noise. It was almost like a throbbing, but irregular, more like a low-pitched humming that was wavering. It grew closer, but before Emma could turn around to examine the source, the hood of her car slammed down hard on the back of her head, knocking her out.  
  
The car bonnet lifted back up to its original position and Emma fell to the ground. Then it slammed closed again. 


	4. In which the plot thckens and Emma takes...

Some time later, she opened her eyes and pulled herself up off the ground. Her car... Something was wrong with...  
  
She looked at it. Three long parallel slices had torn the roof open, and there were more on the door. It hung open by only one hinge, looking as if it had been pulled open but someone with great strength.  
  
What on earth had happened? Her head hurt badly and she pressed a hand to it. Where had she been going? The answer was almost there, but just as she grasped it, it fled.  
  
She didn't know where she was. Or where she was going. Or... *who* she was.  
  
Disoriented, confused, and her head throbbing like mad, she began to walk. Who ever had attacked her could still be around. But why had they left in the first place? And what weapon could they possess that could do such damage? There were hundreds of questions cycling through her head, and she couldn't answer any of them.  
  
She stumbled along for what might have been hours, or minutes. She couldn't tell. But she guessed that it was the former, because the sun began to fade and the air become cold. Still she kept walking, feeling that if she stopped she would be in danger.  
  
She woke, lying under a tree not far from the road. //I guess I passed out...// Her head didn't hurt as badly as it had before, but still she didn't know who she was, or even where she was  
  
Again, she walked, her feet sore from the previous day, and her stomach rumbling with emptiness. Her mouth was thick and dry, but after a few hours she saw a town.  
  
It was small, but bustling in the mid-morning. She headed for the center, hoping to find a police station. Two boys played happily, tossing a football between them. One throw went wide of its mark. She looked around at the cry of "Heads up!" The brown ball was hurtling towards her head. On instinct, she raised her hands and a bolt of electricity launched from them, frying the ball in mid-air.  
  
Everything stopped.  
  
She gazed at her hands, horrified. All of her pain had disappeared in her moment of shock and fear. //Who the hell am I?//  
  
The people around her likewise stared, until some one cried out: "Mutant!"  
  
Then another, "She tried to kill them!"  
  
Totally lost, her fear turned to terror as people pressed in from all sides. She ran, tears filling her eyes and blinding her. She ran aimlessly, with no idea where she was going, but simply wanting the nightmare to be over. Strong hands grabbed her and pulled her into an ally. She struggled for a moment, but he held her tight.  
  
Now, just a quick note for y'all, I can't write accents. Especially not Gambit's because I've never heard him talk, and from the fics I read, it looks/sounds complicated. So, just use your imaginations, okay?]  
  
"Calm down, cheri. Remy is here to help you." He had an odd accent that she couldn't quite place.  
  
She saw a glint of red in his brown eyes and stopped fighting him. He let her go and she took a step back. "Who - what are you? What the hell is going on?"  
  
"I don't think we got time to explain all that. Come." She hesitated for a moment before following him deeper into the building. He stopped next to a large metal globe, big enough for two people to stand in. He motioned for her to enter, but she didn't.  
  
"You can either stay and let *them* find you, or come wit' me." He held out his hand. "But choose quickly."  
  
She took his hand and climbed into the ball. He did the same, and just as he was inside, the top slid closed and it lifted gently off the ground.  
  
**********  
  
This was even better than he had first imagined. Magneto had expected Xavier's niece to be confused and unsure of his help, but due to her unforeseen amnesia she would have no idea who he was. She would be extremely easy to manipulate, with the three parallel scars on her arm backing up his story of Wolverine's attack.  
  
She was resting presently, deep within his metal fortress. He would go to her soon and begin turning her against her friends and family.  
  
**********  
  
The room was metal, gleaming dully in the dim light. She opened her eyes a bit wider and looked around. She saw one of the people from before, the one in the coat. He was still wearing it.  
  
"You're awake."  
  
"Brilliant deduction." She winced inwardly at the acidity in her own voice. "I'm sorry, that was rude. I'm just a little weirded out." Upon traveling in a large metal globe with the man with her now, she'd passed out again. "What did you say your name was?"  
  
He smiled slightly and she realized how attractive he was. "Remy. But people also call me Gambit."  
  
"Ah, nice to meet you." There was a sarcastic edge in her voice.  
  
"Don't worry, Magneto will be here soon. Then things will make a lot more sense."  
  
She frowned. "What's a Magneto?"  
  
"I am Magneto." A tall man, with white hair entered the room and she felt a tremor of... something pass through her.  
  
"Oh." She didn't know what else to say.  
  
"If you are well enough to get up I will take you on a tour of our... safe haven."  
  
She pulled herself into a seated position and then swung her legs over the side of the bed. She was wearing the same clothes as she had been before, minus her boots, which were neatly placed at the foot of her bed. She eased herself up. "Our safe haven?" She carefully put one boot on. "There's more of you? Uh, us..." She put the other on.  
  
"Indeed. There are many who possess the mutant gene."  
  
Magneto lifted one of his hands and an object floated towards her from a metal table. "I believe this is yours. We found it in your car." She stared, open-mouthed as it hovered in front of her. Gingerly she reached out a hand to take the object. It was a normal necklace, a metal chain and a small teardrop-shaped glass pendant. "How-"  
  
"I can control magnetic fields. I use them to manipulate metal."  
  
"You found my car?"  
  
"Yes. It was us who drove away your attackers. Unfortunately by the time we had returned, you had disappeared."  
  
"Oh. Do... Do you know who I am?"  
  
He shared a look with Gambit. "Sadly, no. We were only lucky enough to be there when you needed help. But we shall endeavor to help you regain your memories. Until then, I think we'll call you Voltana. Now, do you want a tour, or not?" 


	5. In which Magneto plots further

Voltana stroked the necklace. He said it was hers, but it didn't spark any memory in her. She felt so empty, not knowing who she was or even really *what* she was. She rubbed her fingertips, examining the darker patches of skin on her fingertips. Scorch marks. Voltana put the necklace on and tried to sleep. It wouldn't come.  
  
She could not find any peace. Something inside her burned away, reminding her that there was something she should do, somewhere she should go. But she just didn't know where.  
  
Anger built within her, sparked by her frustration with her missing memories. She burned to know who she was, who had done this to her, who was trying to kill her.  
  
"Why can't I remember?" Her hands balled into fists and began to glow. Voltana didn't notice, her attention drawn to the skin on her face. It felt hot and tight. As her anger grew, it tightened further, splitting apart.  
  
"Argh!" She launched a stream of electricity at the wall opposite her, melting and buckling the metal. She stopped, her energy spent for the moment and noticed something drip down onto her jeans. She touched a hand to her face and it came away wet with blood.  
  
She nearly leapt from the bed and hurried over to a small mirror set in the wall. The cross on her cheek had opened. All on its own. And now it was closing again. The blood had already stopped.  
  
There was a gentle knocking at her door. "Cheri, are you all right? It's Remy."  
  
She didn't answer, continuing to stare at her reflection. "Who the hell am I?"  
  
The door opened slowly and Gambit entered, his brown eyes flashing red for a moment. "Voltana?"  
  
The name sounded alien. It wasn't hers. But she was forced to wonder if she would know her name if she heard it. After a moment she looked at him. "I- I'm fine." Her voice was faint, distant.  
  
"Remy heard the noise. He has the room next door."  
  
"Oh. I'm sorry. I just can't sleep." She turned to face him.  
  
He saw the blood on her face, but didn't comment. "It's hard to accept, I know. But soon you will be able to control your powers again, and you will feel better."  
  
"I hope so." She sighed.  
  
"Good night, cheri."  
  
**********  
  
The air snapped and crackled with electricity. Voltana's accuracy was rapidly improving, as was her control over her power. She practiced almost obsessively, hoping that her control might lead to some answers.  
  
But there were none so far. Except for the times she woke up at night, feeling the need to move, to go *somewhere* else. But she never knew where she was meant to be.  
  
"Voltana." Magneto strode into the large, empty chamber. "Come, I have something you should see."  
  
He led her to a smaller room, filled with computers. Pressing a few keys, a display lit up, showing the picture of a large man who reminded her somewhat of Sabretooth. She didn't know how that was possible, because she'd not even said one word to the animalistic man, but the feeling was there.  
  
"Who's this?" Her voice was hard and sharp, as it always was when she spoke to Magneto. And any other mutant in the 'haven', bar Remy. And then, only when they were alone.  
  
"This is Wolverine, another mutant. He has - " He punched in another few keys and the image changed to show long metal claws protruding from his hands. "An adamantium skeleton, and claws. They can cut through almost anything."  
  
She had a flash of the long gashes in her car. "Like a car?"  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"So it was him." Her mouth twisted and anger began to fill her. He was the one who had hurt her; she could feel that it was true. It was because of him that she didn't know who she was. "Do you know why?"  
  
"Sadly no." Magneto hit yet more keys. "But he is part of the 'X-men', who work for this man."  
  
She studied the screen. //Bald, paraplegic, fairly old... What on earth can connect us?//  
  
"He is a very powerful telepath, called Charles - "  
  
"Xavier..." Voltana whispered, then blinked in confusion. "How did I know that?"  
  
"Obviously he is connected to you in some way."  
  
She nodded and looked closely at the screen, burning his image into her mind. "If this Wolverine works for him, then he was probably under orders. Not that that really matters... It just means I have two men to kill instead of one."  
  
Voltana swept out of the room.  
  
Magneto smiled. 


	6. In which there's shopping of a sort

Bluish light arced from one end of the room to the other and the target exploded in flame. More followed. Voltana was now a master of her ability, able to summon great reserves of energy from her tireless practice. Her accuracy was almost flawless. Each one she imagined was Wolverine or Xavier. They died, over and over again. There was a light footfall behind her.  
  
Voltana spun and unleashed a barrage of electricity at the approaching person. It slammed into the metal wall, warping it. She looked down at the ducking person.  
  
"Well, Remy *was* going to ask if the cheri would like to go shopping with him..."  
  
She lowered her hands, blushing a little. "Sorry. I'm a little tense."  
  
"Which is why Remy thought you would like to come with him. Plus he thought you might like some clothes." He stood up, brushing off his coat.  
  
She looked down at her self. She'd been there for nearly a week, with only one outfit. //I wish I were a cartoon... Then this wouldn't be a problem!//  
  
"Okay."  
  
**********  
  
The trip was short. As they were re-entering the tunnel that they had taken to get out, Voltana voiced her minor issue with the expedition.  
  
"This is stealing... And I know that's not right."  
  
Gambit didn't stop walking, but his voice did take on a note of bitterness. "Voltana, this world hates us. Do you think we'd even be able to walk into a store if they knew what we were? No, they would attack us!"  
  
"Not all-"  
  
"Don't you remember what I saved you from?" His use of first person showed his irritation.  
  
She considered it. Maybe he was right. Normal people wanted to kill her just for being born. And other mutants wanted to kill her for reasons she couldn't remember. Amongst all of that, what was a little theft?  
  
**********  
  
*ZAP* *CRACK*  
  
*ZAP* *CRACK*  
  
*ZAP* *CRACK*  
  
She was bored. The targets were almost laughably easy to hit. She needed something new, something harder.  
  
"You marksmanship is impressive." Magneto's deep voice echoed through the chamber. Voltana spun around, not having heard him approach.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"But I wonder how you would fare against a moving object?" Before she could respond, several targets rose up and launched towards her.  
  
Her instincts kicked in and she zapped them down. More followed, from all directions. By the time Magneto was satisfied, she was panting from the strain of ducking, dodging and zapping objects.  
  
"Good. Perhaps you're ready."  
  
When he didn't say anything more, Voltana looked up. He was walking away.  
  
"Hey, wait! What the hell do you mean?" She let anger and frustration creep into her voice as she stormed after him.  
  
He whirled around, his cape swishing. His glare bared into her, and suddenly Voltana felt a tingling spread through her, and was unable to move. Her muscles strained, but she was held fast. He leaned down to her. "*Never* raise your voice to me." He leaned back, and she could move. "Direct your anger in more useful directions. Soon you will have your chance for vengeance."  
  
**********  
  
Voltana smiled thinly as she dressed. She'd kept this outfit for a special occasion. She figured that battle was special enough.  
  
She wore black and red. Darkness and blood. Loose black pants with red stitching, and sleeveless red shirt. She wore fingerless gauntlets, laced with red string. Around her neck hung the necklace - her necklace. The dark glass pendant gleamed dully in the light. She tied her blonde hair back in a single pony tail, the severity of the look accentuating the hard lines of her determined face.  
  
Looking in the mirror, she called on her anger, letting it flow through her. Right on cue, the scar on her face split open, trickling blood down her pale cheek. It dripped down onto her shirt, disappearing into the dark red fabric.  
  
She made her way to the roof, to the waiting mutants. She looked at them all, fire burning in her eyes.  
  
"So let's go." 


	7. In which there's a battle and some revel...

She shielded her eyes from the explosion and the stone chips that were thrown into the air. She could see Magneto, on the opposite building. He wanted her to wait, to not attack until the battle was in full swing. Voltana didn't intend on moving just yet, but not due to his command.  
  
Her quarry wasn't there yet. She didn't really expect Xavier to turn up, but she expected better of Wolverine.  
  
So she waited, the tendril of her hair that had come loose lifting periodically in the sea breeze. Magneto had chosen this location due to both its remoteness and lack of human presence. It was a somewhat abandoned construction site, on the edge of a hard cliff and harder ocean.  
  
The teenage mutants were dueling with the acolytes below. She was drawn to them, viewing the battle with mixed emotions. Inexplicably, she felt almost as if she... *wanted* them to win. Voltana shook her head to clear that thought. They worked for Xavier, they were her enemy.  
  
A large crash and growl came to her ears, and she looked to the source.  
  
And smiled. Wolverine.  
  
**********  
  
The building was a mere two stories tall, but simply jumping down wasn't a good idea. But Voltana didn't want to take the time to climb down. She jumped, holding out her hands as she fell and using her power. The upward force of the electricity cushioned her enough to make a safe landing.  
  
She ignored X-men and Acolytes alike, making a straight line for the dueling Wolverine and Sabretooth. The teens couldn't mask their shock or confusion at her appearance and attire, or their horror at the blood that dripped from her face.  
  
Only one tried to stop her, one of the X-Men, laying a hand on her shoulder. Voltana didn't look at her, raising one hand, palm out, and launching a bolt of energy into the red-haired girl.  
  
She didn't even break stride.  
  
As Voltana approached, Wolverine roared and hurled Sabretooth over her head, sending him slamming into a wall. Panting heavily, he saw her. As his dark eyes gazed into her hate filled ones she could see the shock on his face.  
  
No doubt he thought she was dead. Voltana smiled thinly. "You look like you've seen a ghost." The air was brought alive with snapping and crackling as she unleashed her power on Wolverine. It arced through his body, causing him to scream in pain. Suddenly she was struck with a strong sense of deja vu, and as she struggled to pull forth the memory, the energy flow from her hands petered out.  
  
She almost had it, she could almost remember, but she was suddenly swept to the side by a very large hand. Voltana hit the ground hard and skidded...  
  
Into open air. She reached out to grab something to slow her fall, and latched onto the cliff. She wasn't angry anymore. She was terrified. Below her, the ocean slammed up onto the rocks, like a great maw, hungering to swallow her up.  
  
She held on tighter, hearing the sounds of battle from above her.  
  
Then the realisation struck her. No one would come. Magneto was the only one who might have seen her go over, and she knew somehow that he wouldn't lift one finger to help.  
  
The muscles in her arms were screaming with the effort of holding on. Her fingers, slick with nervous sweat, were slowly giving way. Then she heard the distinctive low-pitched throbbing of Magneto's power. She couldn't see anything from her position, but the sound soon faded.  
  
They'd left. Voltana took a deep breath. There was a chance that she might not die if she let go. It was heavily outweighed by the chance that she would die, but she reasoned that it was a better chance than she had with the large group of mutants above her.  
  
She closed her eyes and let go.  
  
Just as a strong hand, attached to an equally strong arm reached down and grabbed her wrist. Voltana looked up at her rescuer and laughed coldly.  
  
"Well? Come on, finish the job."  
  
"Job? Emma, what the hell is going on?" Wolverine's muscles bulged as he tried to haul her up.  
  
//Emma?// Her heart dropped as realisation flooded through her. She knew. That was her name. She was Emma Marko, and... And nothing else. She had a name, but no past, or even an age.  
  
"Emma!" She snapped back to reality, to Wolverine's tight grip on her wrist. "Emma, gimmie your other hand, I can't hold you!"  
  
She hesitated. The alternative below her wasn't promising. But though he'd given her a name, Emma didn't trust the man. After all, why would she ever need to attack a friend? And she had attacked him at some point, she knew it.  
  
She decided and gave him her other hand. She could still fight her way out if necessary. With a grunt, he hauled her up over the edge of the cliff. Emma was on her feet in a flash, glancing at the huddle of mutants around her. Her hands began to glow menacingly as she looked for an exit.  
  
Seeing it, she took off. Kitty tried to go after her, but was restrained by Logan.  
  
"Leave her half-pint... I gotta talk to Charles." 


	8. In which there's property damage

A/N: Sorry for taking so long to get this up, life kind of got in the way there for a while...  
  
**********  
  
Emma didn't quite know where Magneto's lair was, but she did remember where the tunnel that led to it was. It was a long walk, filled with questions to which she didn't have the answers. But she knew where at least some of those might lie.  
  
Magneto.  
  
She was going to choke it out of him if she had to.  
  
"But," she mused aloud; "perhaps after a good night's sleep..." It was dark by the time she reached the stone that hid the tunnel. Her use of her power, combined with the physical exertion of hanging off a cliff, and the emotional stress of her anger and regaining her name had made her incredibly tired. Not to mention the blood she had lost via the strange wound on her face.  
  
She pushed the rock, but it didn't budge. Emma sighed and sat down. Her clothes were dirty and torn, stained with blood. Her right shoulder hurt from the graze it had received tumbling off the cliff. She had another cut on her forehead, which she didn't remember getting, not to mention the scar on her face that was aching. She wanted a shower, she wanted a bed, and most of all she wanted to know who she was, and who the good guys were in all of the mess she was in.  
  
"You don't want to go back." Emma looked up and saw two pinprick glints of red.  
  
"How do you know that?"  
  
"Because Gambit knows he doesn't. Magneto let you go. So go."  
  
Emma laughed shortly. "Where? I don't trust anyone anymore."  
  
"Go to the X-men. And do Remy a favour; give this-" out of the darkness, a card floated towards her, "to the beautiful cheri wit' the stripes in her hair."  
  
And then he was gone.  
  
***********  
  
"I'm telling ya Charles, she didn't know me! She didn't know any of us. You saw what she did to Jean."  
  
Charles frowned slightly. "Are you sure it was - "  
  
"Yes! Not too many people both shoot electricity and bleed from scars. It was Emma. She even smelled the same."  
  
Logan paced the length of Charles' office while the Professor pondered. When Emma didn't contact him or turn up at the institute in a week, he'd tried to find her. Cerebro couldn't detect her anywhere. Extensive searching had turned up her car and possessions, but nothing more.  
  
Until now.  
  
A loud crash startled both of them. It came from downstairs. Without a word, both men rushed out of the office and into the entrance hall. The door was a mess of charred wood and broken glass. Where it had stood was a gaping blackened hole. A familiar form stepped in, her boots crunching on the debris.  
  
She shrugged at them. "It was locked. You're Xavier I gather."  
  
Charles couldn't deny that it was his niece before him, but she was drastically changed. Not so much in appearance, but her entire demeanor was harder and colder.  
  
"Emma." He tried to smile. "Nice of you to visit."  
  
"I'll bet. I need to talk to you."  
  
Footsteps approached the stairs from the students' bedrooms. Emma noted that she couldn't see the redhead among them. Oddly she felt a pang of guilt.  
  
"Professor?" The one with the red glasses spoke, his hand upon them as if on the trigger of a weapon.  
  
"Easy Scott. Go back to bed, all of you." As they reluctantly shuffled off, he turned to the man Emma recognised as Wolverine. "Logan, will you call the repair shop? Then come to my office. I think we have some things to discuss with our returned friend." 


	9. In which there's a nice awww moment

She told them what had happened, all the time ready for some kind of attack. Although, if they'd chosen to, they could have quite easily killed her. Emma knew she didn't have anymore juice in her after she blasted the door in.  
  
"I didn't do it. I'll bet Magneto tore up the car to scare ya." He was trying to be friendly, but she would have none of it.  
  
"It is very likely, but there's only one way to find out. And that will have to wait until tomorrow."  
  
Emma jumped up, her anger building. "What? No, we'll do it now! I came here to find out who I am, not to hang around until you feel like enlightening me!" Her scar, already covered with dried blood, began to bleed afresh. Small, sputtering sparks flew from her hands, fading before they reached the ground. Her shoulder stung madly. Borne out of her injuries and weariness, tears of frustration sprang to her eyes.  
  
"Emma, calm down." Strangely enough, perhaps due to the authoritarian tone Xavier used, she did. "You're tired and so am I. If we do this tonight, both of us could get hurt. Logan, take her - "  
  
"Yeah, I got ya. C'mon... Sparky." He looked odd, as if he wanted to say something else, but he was silent.  
  
Emma found herself following him, although she didn't quite know why. The hall she was taken to was empty now, but she could see light under some of the doors. Logan led her to one at the end of the corridor. It was nice, but brought no flashes of remembrance as she looked around. It was large, with two beds, two dressers and a stereo.  
  
Wolverine leaned on the door frame. "Charles wants me to keep an eye on you, but you look like you could do with some clothes. Think you'll destroy anything if I leave for a few minutes?"  
  
She looked at him, her weariness shining through her tough mask. There was something in his voice and eyes that she couldn't identify. If she were less tired, Emma might have made a sarcastic remark, but she just nodded.  
  
Logan only left her for five minutes, enough to fetch her dufflebag - rescued from her torn car - and antiseptic for her wounds. When he came back, she was lying on one of the beds, fully clothed and deep asleep.  
  
He stepped lightly, lying the bag down on one of the dressers and grabbing a tissue. She didn't move as he gently cleaned the graze on her arm, and only shifted slightly when he cleaned the cuts on her face. He paused as the three pale lines on her arm caught the light.  
  
He didn't know what had possessed him that day. He had almost killed the thing in the world that he loved the most. In the time since their last meeting, he'd thought a lot. It burned deep in his chest that he couldn't even apologise to her, because she couldn't remember what he'd done.  
  
//Maybe if she did she woulda tried harder to kill me...// Quietly and gently, he removed her boots and pulled the blankets over her sleeping form before turning the lights out and taking the other bed.  
  
Just a short note to any one reading this (seems I don't have many readers), this is will be the last in this series, despite the fact that at the end the story is not really resolved. I don't really have the inclination to write this if no one is going to read it, and I can spend my time better working on private projects. 


	10. In which there's some memories

**********  
  
**  
  
"Oh, you idiot!" She cursed a few times before getting out to look at the engine. She opened the hood. Her battery was flat. She looked around at her empty surrounds. She leaned in close to the engine and let the power build in her fingers.  
  
Then there was a strange noise. It was almost like a throbbing, but irregular, more like a low-pitched wavering hum. It grew closer, but before Emma could turn around to examine the source, the hood of her car slammed down hard on the back of her head, knocking her out.  
  
**  
  
**********  
  
"It *was* Magneto." Emma could have hit herself for being so stupid.  
  
"Yes, which is not entirely surprising. Are you ready to start on the rest of your memories? More than a few are painful."  
  
She gave Charles a look. "Pain is *not* knowing."  
  
"Very well. Just relax."  
  
**********  
  
**  
  
She couldn't concentrate on school, not even on her language class. German had always been her favourite subject, but today all the harsh syllables weren't important. Emma kept staring at her hands, rubbing them as if that action could erase what they'd done. She had some money, and if she was quick she could buy a new alarm clock before her mother found out.  
  
If she ever found out... Emma tried not to think about it, but loneliness and fear gnawed at her inside. What was she?  
  
**  
  
Now she was a lot younger. And she didn't understand why she was being punished; she didn't understand what she'd done. She had only wished she was a little taller, and then her mother had found her and started screaming. And now the priest was there and...  
  
**  
  
Now she was older, but still young. Perhaps a teenager. Sitting on the swings at the park at the end of her street. She would have to go home soon, because it was getting dark. Emma didn't fear the dark. She feared herself. She was different from other people - which she'd always known - but to throw lightning from her hands? It was absurd, something out of a horror film.  
  
A man in a wheelchair approached her. She watched him warily.  
  
He stopped near her. "You don't have to be afraid Emma. I want to help you."  
  
"Help me?" She stood up. "Why should I need help?" She looked around. How did he know her name? There was no one passing by, no one listening in, for which she was grateful. Her parents couldn't know.  
  
"I know what you're going through. I went through it too. And, there's more. Do you know that you're adopted?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"I think that I may well be your uncle."  
  
**  
  
**********  
  
Emma paced the room, wringing her hands in an agitated manner. "God, this is just so *frustrating*!"  
  
Charles watches her quietly, knowing how she felt. "You must remain calm. You memory will return in time. It can't be rushed." They could only do a few hours a day, before both of them felt the strain of the exercise. And her memories weren't in any order, but confused and fragmented.  
  
When she wasn't with Charles, Emma shut herself in her room, sleeping and trying to put her thoughts in order. She knew how she'd come to the institute, how she'd discovered her power, but other things eluded her. She avoided contact with everyone, trying to deal with her overwhelming guilt at having electrocuted Jean and Logan.  
  
Logan, who she hasn't quite sure of. The memories of him were the most jumbled and confused of all. In one memory she was using her power on him, or fighting him, and in others she was asleep in his arms, or making him coffee.  
  
It didn't make a lot of sense.  
  
Emma also had to get used to odd flashes of memory returning. After the second session with Charles, she had begun unpacking her bag. Crammed down in the bottom was a blue sundress, wrapped around a pair of black sandals. The outfit seemed inconsistent with the rest of her wardrobe, and she'd wondered if it was really hers, but then she had a flash.  
  
She remembered buying it, the way she'd been forced into buying it by Jean and Kitty, how she'd bought it for... And then it was gone.  
  
She sat down on the large couch in Xavier's office and leant her head on her hand. "How do I apologise to them Charles?"  
  
"Well I think the word 'sorry' could help." He smiled.  
  
"Oh yes, very funny. Hey Jean, sorry I tried to kill you, see ya later... That'll go down well."  
  
Her uncle sighed. "Emma, they're smarter than you think. They know that you were confused by Magneto. They will understand."  
  
"Gee, I really hope you're right." She looked at the clock on his desk. The rest of the teens at the institute were at school, but Jean was still in the infirmary, but Hank said she would be fine to leave in another day. //Note to self: hands carry enough electricity to take out a teenage girl for three days...// Emma stood. "I think I'll go an pay a visit to Jean. Gotta start somewhere."  
  
*********************  
  
A/N: Okay, maybe a few more people like this than I though, so I'll think about continuing the series... Not really promising anything though. But thank you all for your kind words, they made me happy =] 


	11. In which There's an apology

"Is she awake?"  
  
The gorilla-like mutant nodded. "She's even doing *homework.*" He smiled toothily at Emma.  
  
She wondered if Jean was actually human as she approached the bed. "Hey." She spoke quietly as the girl put down her pencil to look at her. She looked okay. Her left hand was bandaged - probably burned where the energy had entered her body, and she looked a little... singed around the edges.  
  
"Emma, hi." It wasn't exactly enthusiastic, but Jean didn't seem mad, which was a good thing.  
  
"How are you doing?"  
  
"I'm okay... How about you?"  
  
"Well I wasn't the one who got electrocuted..." She sat down on the chair next to the bed. "I'm really sorry."  
  
Jean smiled slightly. "It's okay. It wasn't really you who did it. The Professor explained everything to us."  
  
"He did?" She frowned. "Nice of him to tell me..." Shaking off that thought, she looked at the books on Jean's lap. "Homework, huh?"  
  
"Yeah, I didn't want to get too far behind."  
  
Emma raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're a teenager?"  
  
**********  
  
The lower levels of the mansion were straight out of a science-fiction film. After speaking with Jean and clearing her conscience somewhat, Emma decided she would take a walk around. These levels weren't busy, as most students spent most of their time upstairs. If they were in the lower levels, they were either training or traveling to and from the danger room.  
  
She wasn't lost. She hadn't yet gotten lost in the mansion, which was a testament to the fact that she belonged there, because it was quite large. Emma wandered seemingly aimlessly until she came to the observation deck for the Danger Room.  
  
She looked down at the large room, which was currently running one of its many programs. Suddenly she had a flash of remembrance, of running as hard as she could through the deathly maze, dodging saws and spikes and zapping lasers.  
  
She saw Logan, standing almost beneath the deck, watching the students traverse the course. Emma looked at him for a long time, noting the shape of his arms and the way he stood. He betrayed nothing of his emotions, but she knew he was proud of the students he watched.  
  
But how?  
  
Yet another question she couldn't answer.  
  
Emma left the observation area and continued her wander through the level. She entered another room, filled with cupboards. She opened one to reveal basic X-men uniforms. She opened another and encountered a different variety of uniforms. One she recognised as being a copy of Kitty's; another was the same as Evan's. On the bottom shelf, she found one that she hadn't seen worn before.  
  
She picked it up, her fingers tracing the twin jagged lines on it. "This is mine..." Her voice was no more than a whisper as she stared at the uniform.  
  
"Yeah, we all keep a spare uniform down here, just in case."  
  
Emma whirled quickly around to face Logan. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that her hand was glowing as it clutched the uniform. She took a deep breath and let the energy dissipate. "You shouldn't sneak up on people."  
  
He grunted. "You seen Red yet?"  
  
She nodded. "I... uh, apologised to her for nearly killing her. She was doing homework." Emma couldn't get over the fact.  
  
"She's like that."  
  
Emma realised that she was clutching the uniform - her uniform - to her chest and relaxed her grip. She began to fold it up and put it back in the cupboard. Her green eyes rested on the duplicate already there.  
  
"You, uh... Might wanna take that one upstairs. That is, if you're gonna join us." Logan paused before adding, "again," as an afterthought.  
  
Emma pressed her hand to her forehead, as another flash of memory assaulted her. 


	12. In which there's yet more memories

**  
  
She was young again.  
  
"Your parents don't want you to come with me do they?" Charles didn't sound surprised. "But it's not just their choice, it's also yours. You will always be welcome at the Institute." He gave her a piece of paper with a phone number on it. "When you are ready to, we want you to join us."  
  
**  
  
"We don't know what Magneto's plotting, but we do know that we need to gather our strength, which means-"  
  
"That you want me to come back to Bayville. I can't... I can't go back to being a super hero just yet. I have a little bit of normality to deal with."  
  
**  
  
**********  
  
"Emma?" Logan waved a hand in front of her unfocused eyes. She'd just fazed out, staring at a point near the floor.  
  
She blinked, and looked confused for a moment. "Oh. Sorry, what were you saying?" She rubbed her forehead with her left hand.  
  
He bent down and retrieved the uniform from the floor. She'd dropped it when she zoned out. "You dropped this."  
  
"Thanks." She looked down at it.  
  
**********  
  
With her memories came dreams. Or perhaps nightmares is a more appropriate word. She understood that the things she saw were fragments of her memory that had been twisted and warped by her psyche. But that didn't make them any better. Emma believed that if she could understand what she was remembering in her sleep, the nightmares would fade.  
  
It took another week to remember the majority of her past. All that was missing was her relationship with Logan.  
  
"I don't understand why it's not coming through. I know it happened."  
  
Emma was pacing up and down her Uncle's office. He felt sure there should be a hole in the carpet.  
  
"I get little snippets, a few seconds of something and then it just vanishes."  
  
Charles pondered for a few moments while she paced. Finally he spoke, slowly. "Perhaps you are preventing yourself from remembering?"  
  
She stopped. "What? Why would I?"  
  
"Well the last time you left here it was... less than amiable between you. I don't really know what happened -" He lied - "but perhaps if Logan were to tell you it would - "  
  
"Jog my memory? I'm not so sure. What ever is blocking me, it's really tight."  
  
Against his better judgment, Charles resolved to try to loosen her memory with his abilities. 


	13. In which she remembers!

Logan, come to my office, *now*  
  
Logan, who had been in the process of tuning up the engine on his bike dropped his tools and almost ran to Xavier's office, spurred by the man's urgent tone. On arrival, he was greeted with a less-than-calm Professor and an unconscious Emma.  
  
"What happened?" He went to the woman's side, checking her vital signs. She seemed to be okay.  
  
"I think I went a little too far. She'll be fine, she just needs rest."  
  
Logan gently lifted her. "You look like you could do with some of that yourself Charles."  
  
"Indeed."  
  
Logan took her to her room - different to the one she'd slept in the first night. It was the one she usually occupied when she was at the Institute. He laid her on the bed, removing her shoes. As he shifted the covers to pull them over her, her green eyes fluttered open.  
  
"What...?" She looked around, a little confused.  
  
He smiled slightly. "Don't worry, you'll be okay. Just sleep." He started to leave.  
  
"Wait, no." Tiredly, she extended a hand toward him. "Please stay. I feel safer."  
  
**********  
  
**  
  
She could see it all so clearly. Adam was there, cowering behind her. She had to protect him, he was just a child. But the attacker kept coming, growling loudly. Emma wondered if it might be some kind of beast, but then she saw its face.  
  
It was Logan, and he reached out, not to Adam, but to her. Her arm stung where he'd cut it, and he was choking her, crushing her throat with one hand.  
  
She couldn't breathe, and soon she couldn't see, and then -  
  
**  
  
**********  
  
Emma's eyes snapped awake and she breathed deeply, somewhat surprised that she could. Her head was on Logan's chest and she could hear him breathe, hear his heart beat.  
  
More than anything she wanted to move, wanted to be out of his grasp.  
  
The arm he had wrapped around her waist seemed heavier than steel, pulling her in, crushing her to him. She sat up, pulling away from him.  
  
She remembered what had happened. She remembered it all. Adam, the blood, the bruises on her neck, Sabretooth... Her hand went to the three lines on her arm. He hadn't said one thing to her about it. He hadn't even tried to apologise.  
  
He was pretending it hadn't happened.  
  
Emma quickly got up, retreating to the window, her arms wrapped around her body. How could he? How could he abuse her amnesia like that? She could feel the anger rising up within her, but she quickly quelled it. She didn't want to start bleeding from her face again, not when the wound had just healed.  
  
Wolverine, perhaps subconsciously noting her absence from his side, stirred. He cast his dark eyes across the room until he saw her, silhouetted by the moonlight through the window.  
  
"Emma?"  
  
"When where you going to tell me?" Her voice was hard and cold.  
  
"Tell you what?"  
  
"I know, Logan. I remember." A slight tremor crept into her voice as she clenched her teeth.  
  
He stood. "Emma, listen - "  
  
"No. Get out."  
  
"Emma - " He took a step toward her, holding his hands out.  
  
"If I have to tell you again, I will fry you." Her hand glowed as the electricity built. "Get the hell out of my room."  
  
Logan stayed still for a moment before slowly turning and exiting. He shut the door gently behind himself.  
  
And Emma slid to the floor, crying. 


	14. In which there's a small cliff hanger, a...

With her memory more or less restored, Emma started training again. But she chose to train with the teenage mutants, rather than during the day with Logan. She was never alone with him; she wouldn't permit herself to be.  
  
No one was game to interfere in the situation. Logan became increasingly moody, running training simulations more frequently and more intensely. Emma became far more serious and withdrawn.  
  
Kurt made the mistake of putting a snake in Emma's bed. She blasted it until it was charcoal and then grounded him for two weeks. In that moment Charles realised the full extent of her emotional damage. He muted Kurt's sentence to one week, and resolved to talk to his niece.  
  
"Why should anything be wrong?" Emma didn't look up from her book.  
  
"For someone who is so insistent that I keep out of her mind, you certainly make me do a lot of it. Put down the book and talk to me."  
  
With a sigh she placed her bookmark in the novel and laid it on the table beside the large armchair she was sitting in. Not surprisingly, the library was one of the less frequented rooms in the mansion. Emma was often the only one there.  
  
"Talk to you about what, Charles?"  
  
"Start with Logan." He leaned back in his wheelchair, fingertips pressed together.  
  
"I don't want to talk about him. What happened is between us."  
  
He arched an eyebrow, and Emma sighed again, resigning herself to tell the story to her Uncle. //At least he asked instead of just going into my mind and finding out. We're making progress.//  
  
When she'd finished, she sat back in her chair and waited.  
  
"Don't you think you're being a little harsh?"  
  
"Harsh? He doesn't trust me, Charles. And what's more, he *lied* to me about it."  
  
"You can hardly call that lying-"  
  
"It's close enough." She stood up. "No lectures Uncle. I know what I am doing. If he doesn't trust me, there is no point in the relationship. And honesty is even more important than trust. Now please, stay out of my life."  
  
Emma didn't wait for a response, leaving the library at almost a run. Xavier sighed. While Emma did believe what she had said, he suspected that trust and honesty weren't the only issues she was having.  
  
**********  
  
"Rogue!" Emma hurried down the hall to catch up to the girl. She'd forgotten all about Remy's request until she came across the card in one of her pockets as she was doing her laundry. The gothic teen halted in her tracks and turned.  
  
Emma stopped and realised she didn't really know what to say. She held out the card, the queen of hearts. "This is for you, it's - "  
  
She took it, her normally condescending attitude changed into almost wonder. "Gambit..." She breathed.  
  
"Yeah. He told me to give it to you, not that I know what it means, but I guess you do."  
  
Rogue looked stunned, staring at the card in her hand. "Uh, thanks..." She continued on her way, staring at the card. When she reached the door to her room, She stopped, looking up, surprised.  
  
Emma smiled softly as the girl entered her room. There was something between her and Remy, and she felt good for them. It alleviated some of the pain she was feeling over her own situation.  
  
Momentarily.  
  
Emma sighed and turned around, coming face to face with Logan. She jumped a little, surprised, before realising that she was alone. With Logan. Alone. 


	15. In which there's the end of this one at ...

Fear kicked in, and she couldn't move. He looked at her, his dark brown eyes boring into her.  
  
"We need to talk."  
  
Emma gathered up her courage, and set her jaw. "There's nothing to talk about." She started to walk past him, but he moved to block her exit. "Please let me past." She didn't look up at him.  
  
"Emma..." He took hold of her upper arms in his large hands and held her at arms length, trying to meet her gaze. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Why won't you talk to me?" His voice held only contrition and caring, but she couldn't hear it.  
  
His grip wasn't tight, but in her fear, Emma felt as though he was crushing her bones, splitting her skin apart. "I..." She was shaking with fear, unable to speak. After a moment, she managed to whisper, "Please, let go of me..."  
  
Utterly confused, Logan held her for a moment longer before he realised what was wrong. He quickly let her go, now able to smell the fear that rolled off her.  
  
As he released her, Emma took four steps backward, wrapping her arms around her. She could feel his touch burning on her skin. She wanted more, but at the same time the prospect scared her to death. She turned away from him.  
  
"What the hell is going on, Emma? I'm sorry. Why are you so afraid?"  
  
Her voice was hoarse as she tried to keep her tears in. "It's not that... You nearly killed me. If I hadn't been able to..."  
  
"But you did. When I'm like that, you know I'm not myself - "  
  
She turned around, her green eyes glittering brightly. "But you are. It's a part of you Logan. And I can't handle that." She sighed, feeling a twinge at the hurt in his eyes. "Just let it go Logan. Move on. Because I am."  
  
Emma walked past him.  
Finis.  
  
A/N: Wow... Yep, that's sadder and more angsty than I imagined it would be... Maybe I should start working on the next one? I got a good idea, but only if you'll read it. 


End file.
